


Of Partners and Siblings

by Moorish



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: F/M, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 04:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6037827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moorish/pseuds/Moorish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Balthier minds Mjrn while the party searches out last clues related to the mystery of the Henne Mines. Unfortunately, she's about as good at playing him as her sister. Short missing scene between Balthier and Mjrn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Partners and Siblings

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think I am one of many upset that the Henne Mines was resolved so quickly. I also like to think I'm one of many demanding more Blathier/Fran because c'mon - there's no better duo out there.

Against his leg the weight lifted and the velvet soft of Mjrn’s ears snapped against the back of his hand in her haste to move away from the unfamiliar warmth. Her breathing was labored as if she had just come out of some great shock, and Balthier watched on as the viera scrambled to find her bearings, arching forward to sit up. A new panic seemed to flare up in the white-haired woman, and he was forced to put his voice to use before her heart exploded right out of her chest.

“She did not leave,” the pirate advised, drawing up his knee now that he had a greater mobility without her holding his leg down. In his hand he turned over one of his brightly colored rings he so fondly wore, having been thumbing it like an idle child as he sat in wait for the sleeping viera to come back around. “Fran went off to investigate what was left of the nethicite to see if we couldn’t unravel a bit more of this mystery.” His dark eyes slid off to the side towards the mouth of the passage where the Princess and her sword sat in wait at a respectable distance. Larsa was not too far off from that, seemingly fretting over the situation before them. He could tell they were all curious and worried, but Balthier also supposed the fact the missing woman had been Fran’s literal sister kept them at bay. They all seemed to have the right idea about not trying her temper. “She requested to go alone, but the kids were eager as ever to be involved in something potentially revolutionary. So, I was delegated to pillow. Someone seems to think I need a diet, I suppose,” the man rambled a bit freely, his hand falling away to instead rest against his knee. He slipped the ring back on, his fingers curled a little tighter without their toy.

Beside him, Mjrn’s lips fell parted the slightest. He could feel her sharp gaze boring into him, tracing the curves of the face while he refused to meet her eyes, and it made him wholly uncomfortable. It was the same, calculating stare Fran had first greeted him with all those years ago, and he had done his time in order to break down those walls. That's what made it so unnerving now, the memories of his time with Fran being dashed away by Mjrn's untrusting eyes, almost a mirror to her sister right down to the lashes. The viera were guarded creatures with a skepticism for everything - it was grating as much as it was maddening, a puzzle waiting to dissected, and he did not envy the fool who tried to follow in his footsteps to get as close to one as he did. The prize was worth it (he refused to be misquoted with that particular line), but there was nothing particularly charming about the way the viera held a stare.

Exhaling loudly, he turned to meet her finally. Mjrn modified her gaze only the slightest, continuing to stare right back even as he tried to divert them again. “Something particularly fascinating?” he asked, brow arching the slightest to punctuate his question, the knuckles of his hand rolling against his knee. “I know one has not gotten out much, but I promise humes really aren’t all as enticing as they appear.”

Mjrn didn’t seem immediately embarrassed or offended by his direct words, but by the way her ears flicked outwards the slightest, he knew he hit some sort of chord with her. Slowly her red eyes drew away, and she shifted so she was facing him properly instead of gawking at him over her shoulder. She tucked her legs beneath her as she curled her claws against the dimple of her kneecap, looking rather dainty and non-intimidating despite the long limbs under her. “The only humes I came across wore iron and held such wicked intent,” the youthful viera murmured once she settled in, her short hair bouncing ever the slightest with each word. Her silver brows knitted together sharply before relaxing. “Fran would have never left for such a thing.”

Ah. He would have been the fool to expect the conversation to go anywhere else. Admitting, Balthier didn’t have much knowledge on the woman, but he did remember a faint story of Mjrn from Fran’s small collection of tales she had shared over the years over drinks and the alike. He knew Mjrn's dedication to her blood sisters was quite remarkable, and of everyone in the Wood, only she had protested Fran’s leave publicly those fifty odd years ago. That was a discussion from a middling time when they were comfortable with each other but not quite there, and they had pushed the boundaries to find their place by trading stories about scars and culture. It had been a long time since they had done that, but in that short window they had mutually exhausted all they were willing to share, and none of the stories had been the kind one enjoyed repeating. Some things were better left off in the past after all though maybe after their adventure came to close he would have some new tales he found worth reliving.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he rumbled in return after a pregnant pause, his shoes creaking in protest as he moved to push off of the ground. As he stood his fingers went to the cuff of his shirt out of habit, dragging his thumb over the fraying material. What he wouldn’t give for their next destination to have an inn, some soap, and a good bucket of hot water. With a sigh, he flicked his wrist, and as he opened his eyes again he met Mjrn’s once more. Balthier’s lips fell into a thin line and he swallowed thickly, trying to play off the intense staring contest. He knew he was fascinating, but he never thought to such a degree. “We best get your sister now so we can send you along home,” the pirate declared after a moment in an attempt to get the situation moving again, planting his hands on his hips. “I’ll have the Captain keep an eye on you while I set off to find dear Fran.” That drew the viera immediately to her feet and he reached out on instinct to offer her a hand as her long legs faltered beneath her. “You just woke up from a spell,” he warned ever the slightest in irritation, but Mjrn seemed not to care. Her long fingers curled around his forearm, and he dragged his eyes from her claws to her face, a question sitting on his tongue unasked. 

“A moment,” the white haired woman practically begged, her hold tightening ever the slightest as she dragged her fingers over the unfamiliar fabric of his sleeve. She did not release, instead taking a step forward in order to draw to her full height and close the gap between them. Mjrn shook her head again and Balthier eased his stance as he continued to explore for some sort of answer. Unfortunately, she was not quite as easily to read as his partner, but he could see the trouble brewing behind her eyes. Somewhere beyond them, he could hear the faint murmur of conversation, and he was sure their onlookers were watching with bright and prying eyes. No matter what Basch claimed, the old fool was curious of things even if he was too damn respectful to be forward and ask like Vaan or Penelo. 

“I wish not return to the Wood although I must,” Mjrn finally sighed as she explained her trouble, her lithe fingers slowly falling away one by one. They curled into tight fists against her thighs instead, and her chin dipped down as she spoke the space between their feet. “Fran will converse, and yet she will not share her tales. I am happy to see her but I fear she be impersonal.” The sound was almost like a sob by the last syllable, and Balthier deepened his grimace. His own hand opened and closed at his side, and he sighed loudly as he planted one back at his hip, the other gesturing loosely between them. 

“You want a moment with your sister. You want to know where she’s been, what she’s seen, and what she thinks of all this madness,” the sky pirate read easily. Truthfully, that had been his assumption from the start, but he made his tone far removed from belittling. He couldn’t blame her for her fears for he knew they were right on - the older viera had no intentions of leading her sister astray, and while Balthier highly doubted a silence about them on their return journey, he was willing to wager even the Strahl that it was Fran who was going to pry and encourage stories from her sister instead of allowing the other way around. A diversion in order to keep her on the Green Word. “If you’re looking for me to spill, you best think again,” he warned quickly, stealing a short glance to the way the party had disappeared earlier. It was a position he knew better than to get himself in, and he tried to keep his temper even despite for Mjrn didn’t deserve an attitude. Balthier was rather aware family was ever important even when you didn’t want them to be. 

The viera shifted the slightest, her expression first resembling something of a pout before it drew stoic again. For a brief moment, the sky pirate wondered if it was truly Fran who was the black sheep of the family or if Mjrn was on a pedestal of her own, so animated and open before him around the bits of viera upbringing. “I smell her about you, and you hold her secrets true,” Mjrn announced her observations, a hand curling over her chest just above her sternum. She exhaled, eyes once again drawn so fixedly to him that Balthier was determined to find a mirror the moment they left the jungle. “I am glad she has been captivated by someone worth her comfort.”

His brown eyes narrowed fraction in automatic response, and Balthier shifted a hair closer as if that would make the conversation more intimate somehow. “What makes you so sure? Your sister is a recent addition to my ship, and I assure you there were plenty of humes before me. I am not exactly that old you know.” He swallowed roughly, knowing the sound was audible on Mjrn’s well-tuned ears. He hadn’t meant to come off as so accusatory, but it maddened him to be likened to her captor. Yes, he knew what the word captivated meant, but he was no such shining gentleman that Fran fawned before his feet. She was a better woman than that, and he had always admired that about her right from the start. And the word 'recent' was only relative to her life span – in the same window as he had acquired the Strahl had he found Fran too. While he defended his youth now, he was surely young then and wholly unable to force anyone against their will despite his seemingly insurmountable charms. He raised his hand, finger outstretched and at the ready to punctuate his point, but he let his voice fall away with his arm, instead planting his palms fixedly on his hips once more. He had to look away this time, letting the viera take her little victory as he scowled at the dirt. “You best hurry to your point, they’ll be back soon. She’s never been one to put up with Vaan very long.”

Something played across Mjrn’s face that he could consider a smile, but just as quickly as it had shone through her soft look of weariness set in once more. “I am not one very familiar with humes,” she tried carefully, her claws falling away from her chest. Her ears swiveled the slightest this time, and by the speck of light that returned to her eyes, the pirate figured she had heard footsteps on the distant approach. “But yet I know you care, for you have yet to tell me a name.”

Balthier lifted his chin, a hand immediately coming up as he waved her words away. “A name?” he echoed in genuine curiosity, moving to fold his arms across his chest in order to calm his erratic movements. He bent at the hip ever the slightest, a kink to his spine. Was she truly going to try a game with him? “It’s not something you’ll need in the Wood, and with the bounties on my head forgive me if I’m shy to share with the loosest lipped viera I know,” he lied coolly, a small smirk following as punctuation as he easily teased. 

The viera laughed at that and the sky pirate focused on holding his shoulders high, trying not to let her sound get to him. It was nothing like Fran’s, about as dissimilar as their outward personalities, but he knew showing weakness to her amusement would only expose the holes in his ruse. Of course she didn’t even need that, and Balthier held still as she gently placed her hand over his own where it was tucked at the elbow. She relaxed, her own posture dipping the slightest as she radiated comfort in his presence. “You act for her too,” Mjrn sighed, a mixture of amusement and frustration playing oddly across her tongue. Of course she knew for the viera heard through all lies. He was purposefully not telling her, keeping true to his promise not to spill Fran’s stories or add to her curiosities. It was a gesture to Fran – protecting her sister from the menaces of life outside the Wood.

As the footsteps drew audible to even his ears, Vaan always the heaviest foot, Mjrn pulled away. He too spun on his heel in order to watch the arrival, arms remaining fixed over his chest. He wasn’t exactly upset for he knew he had never been good at lying to a viera (and he had stopped trying to pull them on his partner all together many years ago), but being called out was never the most inspiring of feelings. As the short-haired woman drew up to his side just off of his elbow, he saw her expression change ever the slightest.

“I request it,” Mjrn spoke softly, her ears erect as she tried to contain her emotions as Fran’s figure broke through the darkness, her stark white hair always easy to spot in the dimmest glow. Balthier blew a breath through his nose, dipping his head a fraction as he tried to maintain eye contact with the approaching party while keeping his words clear of curious ears. 

“If we meet again,” Balthier dismissed evenly, letting his arms finally fall back to his sides. Out of the corner of his vision, he watched the viera’s eyes close as she accepted defeat. Before he could linger on what he had inadvertently implied, Mjrn was sprinting forward in a blur of brown and yellow.

“Fran!” she called excited with her accent thick, and from the back row he could only shake his head as he watched the two embrace in a tangle of long limbs. Over the younger’s shoulder he caught Fran’s eyes and he held her gaze, a sharp grin pulling at the corners of his lips the longer it stayed. And there it was – the slightest nod of her head, just enough that it wasn’t a random twitch amongst the conversation her sister engaged. Balthier exhaled audibly in relief, immediately waving a hand in Basch’s direction as the man looked over curiously. There were just some things a gentleman had to do.


End file.
